JEFFERSON CITY – The state closed a Sunshine Law complaint against the Richmond School District with advice for the school board to do better when asked questions of public interest. The Richmond News asked the board to state how each member had voted when deciding to place Superintendent Mike Aytes and Richmond High School Principal John Parker on “paid leave.” The Missouri Attorney General’s Office found that the board’s decision to place Superintendent Mike Aytes and Richmond High School Principal John Parker on “paid leave” in November did not constitute firing either man, per se; the official firing did not occur until March. As a result of placing both men on leave, rather than firing them five months ago, the individual board members did not at that time have to state publicly how they voted because they had not, in fact, made a final decision to remove either man. When the board ultimately fired Aytes and Parker, how each member voted became public. The board also declined to…